Looking at the hydros ecosystem, how the heck do controllers work?

[Aaron75]

So I'm currently building a new tank and am considering getting into a hydros controller system. What's the point though, is it best used as a monitoring system? My jebao gyres come with a controller and app control. IM Helio Heater has a controller. Return pump has a controller. Now I could see some use as a dimmer for my led bars but that's really it. Am I missing something?

 

[Hairyteeth]

Yes the can control all of those things and heaters, and testing and so much more in one place with alerts one your phone….the bees knees some may say

 

[Aaron75]

Yes the can control all of those things and heaters, and testing and so much more in one place with alerts one your phone….the bees knees some may say

So would I just get rid of all those individual controllers and wire them directly to a hydros?

 

[BriDroid]

I decided to move to Hydros on my little nano tank. My controllers are still coming in, I got one today. I'm planning on replacing my ATO and my Inkbird heater controller with the Hydros first. Along with being able to monitor things when I'm away from home. I was really looking hard at the Apex, mainly because of the MXM module. I have AI lights, a Nero and an Axis return pump so I thought that made sense. After looking more and more, I decided that I liked the Hydros system better.

Is it a need, NO. Is it cool and I want it, YES ;)

 

[Connor At CoralVue]

My ears were ringing....ask away with any questions! We have support available to guide you and even we can schedule a phone call to sort out what control could work best for you!

HYDROS can do as much as you'd like it to do in terms of automation, or simply be a monitor for a couple parameters.

You'll see a number of Controls available and probably wondering which one to start with...

....It doesnt matter, all the Controls have that same software, but the Control...or Controlssss you start with, do they have enough ports to do all the jobs you wish HYDROS to do.

Ports is the name of the game, all the HYDROS Controls just have a different array of ports to do different things.

For example, most Controls come with TEMP sensor for a Sense Port (Green)

With that, you could simply monitor your temp, and have alerts from anywhere in the world.

Or you could still get those alerts and shut that heater off in case of emergency via a power outlet on HYDROS. We can also get power notifications if the heater seems to be working, but not actually pulling wattage.

Same concept with a leak...your Return Pump has a controller, but does it shutoff with a leak?

What about water change, are you wet hands touching that power strip to shut everything off, we can simply do a waterchange mode to shut off heaters, turn on lights, turn off pumps, whatever you want...then delay the skimmer from turning back online.

We are barely scraping the surface, so ask away with your questions.

 

[Aaron75]

My ears were ringing....ask away with any questions! We have support available to guide you and even we can schedule a phone call to sort out what control could work best for you!

HYDROS can do as much as you'd like it to do in terms of automation, or simply be a monitor for a couple parameters.

You'll see a number of Controls available and probably wondering which one to start with...

....It doesnt matter, all the Controls have that same software, but the Control...or Controlssss you start with, do they have enough ports to do all the jobs you wish HYDROS to do.

Ports is the name of the game, all the HYDROS Controls just have a different array of ports to do different things.

For example, most Controls come with TEMP sensor for a Sense Port (Green)

With that, you could simply monitor your temp, and have alerts from anywhere in the world.

Or you could still get those alerts and shut that heater off in case of emergency via a power outlet on HYDROS. We can also get power notifications if the heater seems to be working, but not actually pulling wattage.

Same concept with a leak...your Return Pump has a controller, but does it shutoff with a leak?

What about water change, are you wet hands touching that power strip to shut everything off, we can simply do a waterchange mode to shut off heaters, turn on lights, turn off pumps, whatever you want...then delay the skimmer from turning back online.

We are barely scraping the surface, so ask away with your questions.

Wow, a response from the big dog themselves. And can the controllers control the xp8 as well? Or does the xp4 or 8 have their own brain. Do I need a controller to have lights turn on at 10am, or can the xp8 alone perform that basic function?

 

[BryanM]

Wow, a response from the big dog themselves. And can the controllers control the xp8 as well? Or does the xp4 or 8 have their own brain. Do I need a controller to have lights turn on at 10am, or can the xp8 alone perform that basic function?

I'm telling people when these things come up, they are very helpful, and as you might imagine support is also good in my experience.

I half want my neptune to die just to move to their system.... but alas it is working just fine.

 

[Aaron75]

I'm telling people when these things come up, they are very helpful, and as you might imagine support is also good in my experience.

I half want my neptune to die just to move to their system.... but alas it is working just fine.

I've leaned towards hydros for a couple reasons; 1, as you mentioned, they seem like active members of the community. 2, sometimes I just think I'm a contrarian. Everyone seems to choose Neptune. But I see no reason to choose Neptune over hydros, especially if you're not a programmer (I am not). And 3, their products just seem overall more user friendly.

 

[rtparty]

I’ve moved on from any of the controller companies and don’t want any of them controlling anything for me. I want simple monitoring with alerts for emergencies only. Temperature and water leak being the top two. And I don’t want the controller doing anything about it.

I don’t trust any of them at this point

 

[Aaron75]

I’ve moved on from any of the controller companies and don’t want any of them controlling anything for me. I want simple monitoring with alerts for emergencies only. Temperature and water leak being the top two. And I don’t want the controller doing anything about it.

I don’t trust any of them at this point

So how do you run your systems? If you have a wave maker, you just use it as designed with whatever controller it comes with? Same with all pumps and heaters and such?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Ports is the name of the game, all the HYDROS Controls just have a different array of ports to do different things.

I don't think there is any secret about how I feel about the website and lack of cohesive and easy to decipher information or product names.

I can honestly see why the OP basically said -- "Well what does it really do and what parts do I need?".

So given the context and your burning (ringing) ears, I figure I may put a worm in one (@Lasse -- did I do that right?)

I think you would be well served by creating an easy to find and read -- comprehensive ports and features matrix with all products listed -- If it exists since last I check, I will stand corrected.

You may know, or maybe not -- When I decided to retire my own modular DIY controller system (no desire to tinker anymore). I looked at your website with great enthusiasm -- something new and not Neptune. I was ready to buy in.

I just couldn't make heads or tails of anything and even figuring out basic features and specifications felt like I fell down Alice's rabbit hole -- exactly the opposite of what I was looking for, given where I came from. So after a few hours of looking and googling and head scratching -- I moved on and spent $6K with GHL, mostly because I didn't want anything to do with Neptune and the GHL information was easy to digest.

Just offering my personal experience and perspective. Maybe I am on an island and maybe my expectations are unreasonable -- but that is my two cents as a once perspective customer -- that is still hoping the best for the Maven and that it will fit my expectations and needs.

 

[exnisstech]

I'm just throwing this out there. IMO if you have to ask what the point of a controller is you most likely don't need one unless your a tech junkie. I know many people love them and people that travel need them but the average reefer not so much. I run 4 tanks and have never ran a controller. Anytime I even think about it I just look up post with failures and problems people have and the urge passes.

 

[Aaron75]

Ports is the name of the game, all the HYDROS Controls just have a different array of ports to do different things.

I don't think there is any secret about how I feel about the website and lack of cohesive and easy to decipher information or product names.

I can honestly see why the OP basically said -- "Well what does it really do and what parts do I need?".

So given the context and your burning (ringing) ears, I figure I may put a worm in one (@Lasse -- did I do that right?)

I think you would be well served by creating an easy to find and read -- comprehensive ports and features matrix with all products listed -- If it exists since last I check, I will stand corrected.

You may know, or maybe not -- When I decided to retire my own modular DIY controller system (no desire to tinker anymore). I looked at your website with great enthusiasm about something new and not Neptune.

I just couldn't make heads or tails of anything and just figuring out basic features and specifications felt like I fell down Alice's rabbit hole -- exactly the opposite of I was looking for, given where I came from. So after a few hours of looking and googling and head scratching -- I moved on and spent $6K with GHL, mostly because I didn't want anything to do with Neptune and the GHL information was easy to digest.

Just offering my personal experience and perspective. Maybe I am on an island and maybe my expectations are unreasonable, but that is my two cents as a once perspective customer still hoping the best for the Maven is something that will work for me.

I totally understand that. Its not clear, not at all. And without having anything in my hands, i cant imagine how it works. A minnow, a launch, a kraken, an x10, termination buses, its all extremely overwheling. And i was looking at the x4 starter pack which is a whopping $450 dollars, and i really have no idea what usage that would get me.

 

[Aaron75]

I'm just throwing this out there. IMO if you have to ask what the point of a controller is you most likely don't need one unless your a tech junkie. I know many people love them and people that travel need them but the average reefer not so much. I run 4 tanks and have never ran a controller. Anytime I even think about it I just look up post with failures and problems people have and the urge passes.

I know, but i feel like it must serve some purpose. And they do have dosers and ato's, it could be nice to have it all be one ecosystem. Even if it just elimates a couple power bricks? Maybe?

 

[exnisstech]

I know, but i feel like it must serve some purpose. And they do have dosers and ato's, it could be nice to have it all be one ecosystem. Even if it just elimates a couple power bricks? Maybe?

There are many stand alone dosers and ATO units. The one thing that bothers me most is a failure can shut everything down vs just a single component. The power brick elimination would be awesome but my living room tank alone has 12 bricks plus 3 or 4 plugins lol.
If I did decide to try one I would definitely go with hydros over apex. The user interface looks so much easier and they are a presence here with good support. The coding needed to run an apex is way over my head.

 

[Aaron75]

What really started this search was I ordered some Led bars, orphek knockoffs. They have a 0-10v dimmer knob. I feel like a controller would be a great option to not only create a basic on/off schedule, but I could even simulate an intensity schedule that matches my main light intensity. If I could get some further use out of a system like hydros, I'd definitely like to utilize those features.

 

[BriDroid]

I totally understand that. Its not clear, not at all. And without having anything in my hands, i cant imagine how it works. A minnow, a launch, a kraken, an x10, termination buses, its all extremely overwheling. And i was looking at the x4 starter pack which is a whopping $450 dollars, and i really have no idea what usage that would get me.

I agree. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to tackle the Hydros system. I am still getting things in the mail, so I haven’t set anything up yet, I just got the X3 and some cables today lol.

I went with an X2, an X3, one 4x WiFi outlet and an XP8. I bought the small pump and the 3 position water sensor. I already have a new pH probe, so I just got the plain X3. I’ll probably add a water sensor for my sump at sometime in the near future.

But I agree, it is very confusing and if you buy all the starter kits, you get a lot of useless (to me anyway) equipment.

 

[BryanM]

The power brick elimination would be awesome but my living room tank alone has 12 bricks plus 3 or 4 plugins lol.

This is why I wish I didn't already have a serious investment in my neptune..... Just the cleanup, and heat reduction, is almost worth the price of admission...... Almost.

 

[FishLvR]

I use KASA plugs...LOL I am such a peasant.

 

[Aaron75]

I use KASA plugs...LOL I am such a peasant.

Nothing wrong with that at all, that's what I currently use on my nano tank! A 6 plug strip is perfect. But I'm potentially interested in some more advanced features if possible.